Intel next-gen SSD specs leaked

Intel's next generation of SSDs promises greatly improved longevity, according to leaked specifications.

Details of Intel's next generation of SSDs has leaked out, and if the specifications prove true the company could have a seriously hot property on its hands.

The specifications, obtained by the guys over on AnandTech from an unknown source, claim that the successor to Intel's X25-M 'Postville' solid-state devices will bring double the capacity and significantly improved longevity and performance.

The new drives, which will launch under the traditional X25-M name but are known internally under the project name 'Postville Refresh,' are slated to use IMFT MLC flash built on a 25nm process, which should mean a doubling of capacities without too much of an increase in price.

The third-generation drives will be available in 80GB, 160GB, 300GB, and 600GB sizes, along with 1.8in and 2.5in form-factors. Interestingly, the specifications claim that Intel will be adding AES-128 encryption support to certain models in the range.

Performance has been tweaked, with the 25nm models equalling their predecessors' 250MB/s sequential read but blasting past the 100MB/s sequential write performance to hit an impressive 170MB/s. Random IOPS has also been boosted, with the new drives able to hit 50,000 4KB random reads and 40,000 4K random writes compared to the older models' 35,000 reads and 8,600 writes.

Better yet, the drives lifespan has been significantly boosted: Intel rated the second-generation X25 drives to between 7.5TB to 15TB before the NAND flash expired, but the third-generation models manage 30TB to 60TB, and come with a power-safe write cache to help prevent data loss.

Sadly, there's a trade-off for all this increased capacity and performance: power. Despite a drop in process size from 34nm to 25nm, the new drives will draw more power than their predecessors: the maximum power consumption goes from 3W to 6W, while the idle power consumption rises from 0.06W to 0.075W.

The consumer-grade X25-M models will also be joined by new X25-E enterprise-grade drives, codenamed Lyndonville. Again based around a 25nm process, the new drives boost performance to 250MB/s read and 200MB/s write, while improving longevity to somewhere in the region of 1PB to 2PB. Yes, that's between one and two petabytes of data before the drives fall over.

Both models are expected to launch with SATA 3.0Gb/s interfaces at first, although it's not yet known whether they will be followed by a SATA 6.0Gb/s version in the future. Likewise, precise launch dates and pricing information is not yet available.

Do you think that Intel's new drives look like what you always hoped SSDs would be, or does Intel need to reveal pricing before you start getting excited? Share your thoughts over in the forums.

I won't buy another Intel SSD after the fiasco with them not issuing the firmware update to the 1st generation ones for TRIM support. I just replaced mine with an OCZ Vertex 2 (120 Gb) after the Intel write performance had dropped to 10 Mb/sec sequential, and my system runs much smoother now.

Originally Posted by V3ctorI already have 3TB written to my G2 160Gb on my notebook (don't know how it got to that), and it says it's at 98% in health.

The new ones seem good enough in write speeds, but I can't even max my G2 on my notebook with the PM965 and the ICH8M-E southbridge... :(

And I think that are new sandforce controllers coming out soon, so we may see another performance boost from them...

Wow what the heck are you doing on that laptop and how long have you owned it.

My 160GB G2 in my desktop is only at 850GB's host writes since dec 2009. Then again my system is tweaked with a seperate drive for Data storage, page file taken off the SSD, and browsers caches and user temp files stored on a RAM Disc.

Originally Posted by TaniniverI won't buy another Intel SSD after the fiasco with them not issuing the firmware update to the 1st generation ones for TRIM support. I just replaced mine with an OCZ Vertex 2 (120 Gb) after the Intel write performance had dropped to 10 Mb/sec sequential, and my system runs much smoother now.

This is what happends when you buy first gen products you often get screwed. The Sandforce drives are cool but there performance depends on if it can compress that data uncompressed data performance is not so great. And obviously having TRIM will be better than no TRIM.

SSD's are not ready for prime-time. Too much worrying about the controller specs, the nand chips, benchmark numbers, reliability, longevity. All that has to become transparent. I'd say another 2 or 3 years, when these become commodity items.

BTW:
It would be very easy for me to write 10 TB to an 80GB drive in less than 6 months.

With testing for space-flight simulation add-ons and whatnot, we often uninstall and reinstall a 6GB app several times a day.

And what about photoshop?? There goes even more data.

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